Try out this amazing data capture and organizing tool - Evernote

I've been using Evernote for over six months now. I learned about it while searching for products that would help me synchronize data between my various compute platforms. I have many platforms I want to be able use to gather material when I'm doing my genealogy research. I have an iMac, MacBook, Dell Windows XP laptop, Blackberry Storm, and an iPod Touch. All have their functions for work and play, and I wanted to be able to capture data regardless of which machine I was using.

I found Evernote while searching for products to synchronize multiple platforms. Like DropBox (see my earlier post), Evernote is based in the Internet "Cloud". The Cloud is the latest term used for Web-based services, unlike the typical localized tools we use on our PCs and laptops. With the Cloud, all you need is an Internet connection and a browser, and you can get to your information from anywhere. You don't have to worry about carrying along a CD, USB stick, or memory card with your data and then remembering to sync it back up when you get home. In Cloud computing, your data is securely stored on servers that you can access from anywhere. They are backed up and reliable. Best of all, many of these services are free up to a certain level.

Evernote.com provides downloads for Mac, Windows, iPhone/Touch, and Blackberry. They have two levels of service. The basic level is free and is a great place to start. You can try out the service and do most everything you would need to do with the free service. The Premium service adds functions like indexing of PDF files and a much higher number of monthly uploads. There is no storage limit, just the total data transfer per month.

Imagine being in the library, finding that page in a book you've been needing, not having a copy machine available and only a minute to make some notes. Take out your Blackberry or iPhone, snap a photo of the page and save it to Evernote. The image is automatically copied to the Cloud and synchronized with all your other devices. When you get home, log into your PC or Mac and there it is, the page you needed ready for further analysis.

Give Evernote a try. I recommend it. They keep it current (including the recent Snow Leopard update from Apple).

Status of my online research tools

I’ve been researching my family history for about eight years. It has been an on again, off again activity — never seems to be enough time to spend on it. I’ve corresponded with many cousins over the years and the one thing I’ve really come to appreciate is the overwhelming amount of information one can collect about one’s family. I’ve used several genealogy database programs on PCs and Macs, but they tend to be rather limited and static in what I could do with the information once in the program. I needed a way to share and collaborate with others researching the same lines without having to go through extraordinary efforts to export and import data.

I also wanted a way to access my research from anywhere, regardless of whether or not I had my MacBook with me or just a PC in a library. I’ve spent a lot of time on the Internet looking at how others have collaborated and shared their research. I realized that I needed several things to achieve my objective:

1) A secure, online database that supported most of the features of my favorite genealogy programs, Reunion and The Master Genealogist, and that was flexible, scalable, and customizable

2) A mechanism for cousins and other researchers to exchange ideas, data, and conclusions and to maintain an ongoing research log to help others researching our family lines

3) A forum for myself where I could post observations of general interest and entertain comments and feedback from cousins and researchers.

The end result is this Web site, riddickhome.net, and a set of low cost or open source tools hosted on my own domain that tie everything together in one place for family, friends, and researchers to come together to share family information and keep in touch with each other.

The domain and web site is hosted by GoDaddy.com on Linux, using MySql, PHP, and Apache Web server.

The genealogy database is The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding (TNG) by Darrin Lithgoe built on MySQL and PHP.

The collaboration forums are maintained using the Simple Machines Forum (SMF), a free application built on MySQL and PHP.

My blog is maintained using WordPress, another free application built on MySQL and PHP.

I’m in the process of learning and integrating a Content Management System (CMS) to provide an overall common look-and-feel for all of these applications. The CMS I am using is a free application called Joomla! and is one of the most popular in use today.

So, you will see a common thread in all of these — readily accessible from any Web browser and from anywhere with Internet access.

As I complete the integration of these tools over the next couple months, I will send out notices to family and friends so that you can check them out and set up free accounts so that you can access and share the information on this site. I will also provide my thoughts about how it has gone, if this approach is workable, and how it might be improved so as to make genealogy research and data collection easier.

- Chris

New free online storage gives you access to data from any computer

I've been using a service called DropBox that gives you free storage online in a virtual cloud and syncs changes to the files you place in it across all of your computers. So, you can have a local copy of important files on every computer you use and a backup copy safely stored and sync'd online.

I use it to keep copies of family files and other items I regularly access when doing research. I never have to worry about carrying a USB stick to copy files to and then copy to my other computers. DropBox does the copying automatically whenever I change or add a file. It will even take care of propagating deleted files once I'm done with them.

BTW, it works on my Windows XP machine and my iMac and MacBook, too!

Try it out at

https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTM4NzQ4NTk